400 swimmers confirm –swimming tech is changing their training

Demand for wearable gadgets in the pools around the world is increasing, a recent survey– shows in this article written by OVAO

Most of the respondents are active swimmers – they train two or more times a week, and their goals are similar: they wish to stay healthy and fit, improve their technique and performance. Nearly a third of the respondents are keen to try different swimming programs in order to achieve their goals, which shows a demand for customized training programs. Even more participants are willing to train more than they do currently and improve personal performance parameters.

More than a half of the swimmers are using some sort of equipment to track their performance. It is either smart trackers and sports watches that are being used by 37% of respondents, or simpler equipment, such as pool watch or stop watch, which then requires memorizing (or writing down) the information, used by 25% of respondents. At this point, only about a third of swimmers claim not to do any tracking at all.

What is interesting that triathletes are leaders when it comes to the use of wearable technologies. Nearly 70 % of them are relying on smart trackers. Results-oriented swimmers are also relying heavily on them. What is slightly surprising is that semi-pro and pro swimmers mainly rely on parameters that are measured manually, while those who treat swimming as a form of recreation or a workout, are not likely to track their performance at all.

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So, what does the future hold for wearable devices? Promising, as long we make them smart enough ­– that is, improve the gadgets from simple performance tracking to making suggestions and customized training programs, 66 % of swimmers would gladly get a wearable device, especially the triathletes and results-oriented swimmers. Survey also show that semi-pro and pro swimmers, as well as fitness-oriented swimmers, would gladly purchase a virtual coach, and as much as 70 % of those that track their performance manually would be happy to do that with the help of smart devices. Even half of those who do not worry about any of the tracking now, would be excited to try doing it with the help of wearable swimming device.

To sum up, smart swimming gadgets will soon be a part of nearly every swimmer’s training program, whether professional or amateur. Better yet, if the gadget acts as a training assistant rather than just one more performance tracker.

author: OVAO: Research was conducted by Ovao – a company that develops a unique virtual training assistant for swimmers and triathletes